Monday, August 8, 2011

S&P Downgrade is About Much More Than Money.

Friday night's surprise downgrade by the credit rating agency Standard and Poor's from "AAA" to "AA+" has hit our country in a deeply profound way - and has caused panic in the Obama Administration. This past weekend the Administration was busy trying to dispel the importance of this action - mainly because they were concerned of its impact on the economy.

But the action of the administration misses the mark. The downgrade will be about the stock market and the economy in the short term, but in the long term the action by S&P has damaged the psyche of our country and our business community.

American exceptionalism has been questioned, and now, an independent agency, has said that we are no longer the gold standard in the world economy.

This has done and will do tremendous damage to our fundamental belief in the system that has served us for the last 200 years.

Once the foundation that our economic system is built on is questioned, the belief that this country can do anything, be anything, and accomplish anything, is greatly diminished. Once the foundation of our economic system is questioned, the American Dream becomes a ghost for Americans, something that once was, but does not exist for future generations.

So what the should the President do? While government cannot run the economy, the President needs to focus on the economy - not on health care or any other issue, the singular American issue is job creation. He should fire his senior economic staff, reconstitute his economic team, and speak to the American people about his renewed focus - his presidency, and the future of our nation, is at stake.

Finally, the President should cancel his vacation(s) and ask the Congress to cancel its summer recess. Americans are not getting vacations, our leaders should not rest until the American people can rest.

The Republicans should recognize this for what it is and what it has been for the last three years. A crisis that strikes to the very heart of our country. Stay away from being the party that dances on the grave of our dreams (although it's OK to have policy differences) and provide positive pro-growth solutions.

Both sides should not engage in finger pointing and laying blame, there will be time for that later.

The downgrade has been a tremendous blow to the psyche of the United States. This is about so much more than our ability to pay our bills or an election, it's about who we are as a people and as a nation - the toughest kid on the block, the place were dreams happen, the country where anything is possible.